Summer 2020 Living Well

The Summer Solstice this year marked the 19th anniversary of my first full spectrum “Nature’s Palette” paint colors. So many of you have been loyal paint customers for most of these years and thanks to you, I’m able to continue working remotely from home as always. I’m so fortunate that business has been steady even during this pandemic. Thank you, thank you, thank you!  

Adapting my business to these stay at home restrictions has been easy since paint is ordered either online or by phone, and now when you go to your nearest PPG Paints store to pick up your order, you just call from your car when you arrive and they’ll bring your paint directly to your vehicle. 

I’ve really enjoyed Zoom happy hours with friends, so I thought it might be fun to do some Zoom question and answer sessions on color and design. If you’re interested in joining in, send me an email so I can send you an invitation. Sidney Coffee of The Guru in Baton Rouge is planning a series of Zoom events and I’ll be featured as one of her guest presenters, along with others on a variety of subjects including astrology, interior design, and help with relationships during these challenging times. 

Speaking of challenging times, I confess to having more than a few anxious and sleepless nights and have found great comfort in listening to creative visualization tapes by Jeanne-Marie Taylor/Muse via YouTube. I’ve always been a big fan of creative visualization, especially since that’s how I created my little sanctuary in the woods here in Saint Francisville (read that story here). I found instant relief from her “Channeled Message from Gaia” and there are many others, so I highly recommend subscribing to her YouTube channel. 

Besides escaping with visualization tapes, virtual happy hours and lots of TV series and movies, I really enjoyed reading Beth Arnold‘s  Jours of Our Lives: On the Road in France and Beyond. It’s no wonder I felt like I was along on the journey with Beth – she captures the colors, cuisine and countryside so beautifully, you will be transported! 

I give thanks every single day that I’m able to live on this magical little piece of earth surrounded by 100′ tall trees in a home I designed. My daughter Alex and her partner Dominic Rivera who normally live in New Orleans have been here since early March, so I’ve had the pleasure of their company and fabulous cuisine most evenings. Alex has become quite the gourmet cook since writing her book Classic Restaurants of New Orleans. Dom, who was working on movies before the pandemic, was kind enough to make a video of me giving a tour of my home that I named “Mon Soleil”. I hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve been enjoying virtual glimpses into other’s homes. Click on the photo of my home to take the tour!

(In the video, I neglected to introduce my little YorkiePoo Winson who you’ll see following me everywhere I go!)

I hope to see you sometime soon for a Zoom Q&A event. Be sure to email me for an invitation. Please take care and stay safe!

Catching up!

Now that I’ve finished posting about each of my Full Spectrum Paint colors, I’m working on getting my newsletters linked to this blog. I sent out my Winter Living Well this past Monday so if you’re not one of my subscribers, here’s a link to it: Winter 2019 Living Well.

The newsletter features two projects by talented designers Cecile Thompson and Peggie Rhodes of Timpson Creek Gallery in Clayton, Georgia. There were so many fabulous photos, I had a hard time figuring out which ones to include. Since I posted it, Peggie found some even more wonderful photos that I’ll share here.

I wish I would have had this photo for my newsletter since it really shows the “Adirondack-style” of the Highlands, NC home (or should I say Lodge?) we featured.

Almost all ceilings in the Highlands house are painted “Christine’s Cloud” which has become a favorite ceiling color of many clients both inside and on porches.

One of many hallways in this home. The clients are quite the art collectors. Timpson Creek Gallery has over 10,000 square feet of art, antiques and furnishings.

I created a custom color, “Teal”, for this guest bedroom. If you’re interested in this color, my “Albania Teal” is mighty close. All trim is “Pearl”.

Many of the walls are painted “Buttercream” like in this kitchen and the bathroom below. The kitchen ceiling is one of many painted “Christine’s Cloud”.

This chest is just one example of the furnishings you can get at Timpson Creek. The attention to detail in this home is incredible. You see it everywhere: furniture, cabinetry, hardware…even the lamp shades are like little works of art, like the one below from the Lamp Shoppe in Atlanta

This charming window seat reminds me of the Dutch beds I had built into my own home. The perfect place to curl up and read a book like my daughter’s first book “Classic Restaurants of New Orleans”!

Yes, I’m way too excited about Alexandra’s book and am plugging it every chance I get! It came out Monday, November 4th and the first printing sold out before the publish date! Having a forward by Walter Isaacson certainly helps but I have to say, it’s an incredibly interesting book. Here are links to the first couple of articles since it’s been out: Country Roads Magazine and New Orleans’ Gambit. There are many book signings planned so if you’re in the area, I hope to see you at one!

If you’d like a sample of any of my full spectrum paints colors, visit my online store where you can get free hand-painted samples in addition to a variety of samples, paint and even my “Classic Restaurants of New Orleans”!

ellenkennon.com
ellen@ellenkennon.com
877-877-7628

Redwood Rose and Rue Royale

“Redwood Rose” and “Rue Royale” are in the rose family but because they were created with full spectrum formulas, they both shift back and forth from rose to terracotta depending on the light. I was asked to create “Redwood Rose” by decorating clients who wanted their newly constructed bedroom addition to be the same color that renowned architect A. Hays Town created for the conference room of the Orangerie at the Rural Life Museum in Baton Rouge, his last project before he passed. I have to say, I nailed it!

The color rose lies behind the violet end of the spectrum blending spiritual understanding with physical manifestation, turning visions into realities. Rose is able to bring the ethereal and spiritual into physical form. Used in the environment, it promotes love and contentment.

“Redwood Rose”, named after my clients’ property, Redwood Ranch, was used on both walls and ceiling with “Edgewood Green” trim in their new master bedroom addition.

In this photo you can see how “Redwood Rose” shifts from terracotta to rose, yet it’s in the same master bedroom suite but here, we doubled the “Parchment” formula for the millwork, calling this color “200% Parchment”.

My full spectrum “Rue Royale” was copied from another color A. Hays Town created in the Orangerie. It’s the color he used in the foyer, right off of the conference room. Both are classic New Orleans stucco colors that you’ll see used often on the exterior of stucco buildings in the French Quarter.

“Rue Royale” is a dead ringer for many of New Orleans’ French Quarter buildings. This bathroom is also in the classic New Orleans style used with old black and white tiles.

If you’d like to see hand-painted samples of any of my full spectrum paint colors, visit my Online Store.

ellenkennon.com
ellen@ellenkennon.com
877-877-7628

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Touching Base

Once again, it has been a while since I posted on my blog. However, I recently posted a lengthy newsletter that includes a recent interior design project that I especially enjoyed working on since it was new construction for some color clients I’ve had for over a decade. Now that they both retired and all of their children are grown, they down-sized into a lovely town home in a private development in Baton Rouge. The Living Room shown below opens into both the Dining Area and Kitchen. To see more photos, check out my latest Living Well Newsletter. This project is towards the end.

It’s now been a couple of years since we’ve been using the new PPG Paints products and I can’t tell you how pleased with the feedback I’m getting. Both the Pure Performance and Manor Hall are premium products. The Pure Performance is VOC-free and covers exceptionally well. However, I’m thrilled to report that we’re now reformulating our really saturated Bright and Magical Gem colors into the Manor Hall product for these usually hard to cover colors. The “Hot Pink!” for instance, almost covers in one coat (in the old Lifemaster, it took 3-4 coats!). Now, we’re talking two coats, tops!

I’m also creating new colors almost weekly and there are some great ones so be sure to check the drop down color lists and if there are colors you don’t recognize that aren’t in your sets, please don’t hesitate to email me to find out more about them. Also, I usually post photos of the samples on my Facebook page. Two new ones you might like are full spectrum versions of Farrow & Ball colors I was asked to make: “Middleton Pink” (we kept the same name for now) and our “Verdant” is their discontinued “Chappell Green”. Both photos of the same sample below show how much the color shifts from green to blue.

The same “Verdant” sample above and below shifts with the light.

The samples below are of two new colors. The top one is “Kelly Green” and the bottom two are the same exact color sample (“Castle Piano Rm Green”) but with different lighting. These colors were created for artist Hunt Slonem’s 102,000 sq.ft. Castle in Scranton.

Although these colors were initially created for special clients, these paint colors may be ordered by anyone and we’re having one of our “Blog Sales” so be sure to input the word “blog” in the discount box at checkout when you order online.  While you’re there, check out the fabrics and wallpaper that can now be ordered online. There are always discounts, but you need to email me with the quantity so I can give you the secret discount code!

I hope you’re having a swell (not sweltering) Summer!

 

 

Well Priced But Not Cheap!

Let’s talk money. Not something I like to talk about unless I’m sharing “a good deal”.  And actually, that’s just what I’m going to do. The other day I was in Helm Paint in New Orleans working on a custom color for a client whose painter would only use Fine Paints of Europe’s Brilliant Gloss, which by the way, is going for $148 a gallon. But what was enlightening, was Helm Paint’s big price menu posted behind the counter: Ben Moore’s Aura @ $72.95 a gallon & Satin Impervo @ $69.95 a gallon. I’m often asked by designers to make full spectrum formulas of Farrow & Ball colors that sell for $95 a gallon – not because they love the product or because my paint is less expensive and easier to get, but because they want the full spectrum color without the black pigment.

When I started my line of Full Spectrum Paints back in June 2001, my original intent was to provide local customers with affordable, beautiful full spectrum color. At the time, there was only access to Donald Kaufman paints which were not only over $100 a gallon but also very hard to get down here in Louisiana. Since then, the company who manufactures my paints has been bought out twice, most recently by PPG Paints. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am with PPG Paints’ products and customer service. The price of my paints range from $58 – $69 a gallon and with the new formulas, contain up to 12 voc-free pigments. I’ve also created a few custom colors in PPG’s 7-Line Interior/Exterior Industrial Gloss which is every bit as beautiful as Fine Paints’ Brilliant Gloss. When I compared the samples we painted of each product, you could not tell the difference in finish and considering PPG Paints claims you can use 7-Line on floors and machinery, I’d say it’s just as durable, if not more durable!

For over a year now, we’ve been using Pure Performance ($58-63/gal.) interior and Manor Hall ($67-69/gal.) interior and exterior products and have been getting great reviews from customers AND their painters. Both have built in primers and the Manor Hall also has a stain repellent.

Since the Hunt Slonem Antebellum Pop exhibit opened, I’ve had a flurry of inquiries about his fabrics and wallpapers, so everything in his collection is now available for ordering on my online store in addition to some of my favorite fabrics that I often use in my decorating projects. I plan to continue adding more fabrics, wallpapers and eventually, upholstered furniture. I offer discounts on all fabrics and wallpaper, ranging from 10 – 20%, depending on quantity. Here’s the link:  Ellen’s Favorite Fabrics & Wallpaper

My favorite Hunt Slonem fabric is the “Hutch” linen which also comes in orange, pink, black, red & turquoise. Here the Navy is shown in this tablescape by David Duncan Antiques photographed by Marco Ricca, the photographer who photographed Hunt’s latest book, When Art Meets Design.

My favorite wallpaper?  The “Bunny Wall” that we used in the LSUMOA Hunt Slonem Antebellum Pop exhibit which is up through August 5th. I’ll be giving a Gallery Talk and Tour on Sunday, July 10th @ 2:00. If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll join us!

The “Bunny Wall” wallpaper comes in two sizes. This size is 54″ wide and comes in ivory or black backgrounds. There is a “Small Bunny Wall” for smaller spaces that is the normal 27″ wide paper and also comes in blue and and orange/red. (We hung bunny paintings on the bunny paper so it’s not 3-D!)